Immigration Nation: What Will the Presidential Candidates Talk about at the Debate?

The Green Card Lottery will not be getting much publicity in the presidential debates this season mainly because it really has nothing to do with the President of the United States. The Green Card Lottery is a Congressional program and is unlikely to be repealed anytime soon. There was some legislation floating around that proposed changing the program, but it wasn’t passed. If you are interested in becoming a permanent resident of the United States, you should consider signing up for the Green Card Lottery. It is one of the easiest ways to get permanent residency.

Immigration, and particularly illegal immigration, is a subject often overlooked by politicians and the voting public. After all, the only people allowed to vote are citizens. Since politicians are most often concerned with the voting public issues affecting immigrants are of minimal concern. This might make some feel disempowered, but in the United States we have a right that allows you to have a voice even if you cannot vote. The freedom of speech and of the press allows anyone to influence others. Talk to citizens that you know and tell them why immigration issues are important to you.

The issue that will have the most power in terms of immigration this election will be the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that President Obama enacted over the summer. For those illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States when they were quite young they will now have the opportunity to get work permits and to not be deported for at least two years.

This relief program, referred to as DACA, has become highly politicized in America. Conservatives have labeled it an election year ploy to woo Latino voters that the current administration has ignored for its term, an overstepping of powers and violation of the American system of checks and balances or another faulty aspect of an already broken immigration system. More liberal commentators look at the DACA program as a compassionate reform that might encourage Congress to put together more comprehensive immigration reform. Liberals have also said that it is Obama helping out the Hispanic demographic, which in the past has provided a large number of votes for him. A kind of voter loyalty.

And perhaps it is a good idea for illegal immigration to be discussed in the political debates, whether or not it is an issue is irrelevant when you examine the large number of Americans who think it is a problem.

People who get DACA relief before their 18th birthday and are from a country that is not on the Green Card Lottery ineligibility list have a good chance at getting permanent resident status through the Diversity Visa Lottery. If you apply for Deferred Action after your 18th birthday you will accrue time in illegal status which will make it difficult to get a green card. So apply early, and apply now with USAGreenCardLottery.org to become a permanent Resident of the United States.